Abstract: My dissertation
examines why some democratic countries have experienced more anti-government
protests than others. To investigate this question, I propose a party theory of
protests, which posits that the patterns of protests in democracies are shaped
by the mobilization capacity of opposition parties. Moreover, I argue that the
effects of opposition mobilization capacity on protests are different in
developed countries and developing countries, respectively. In this research, I
conduct a quantitative analysis using data of anti-government protests,
parties, and elections from 107 democratic countries. In addition, I conduct a
comparative case study of Taiwan and Peru that draws on historical documents,
news reports, and elite interviews.